The latest information is impressive, regarding ATIs monstrous R520 board, also known as Fudo. ATI claims that its new range of boards will carry in excess of 300 million transistors so it could be able to feature 32 pipelines. Many might remember how the number 16 for pipekines seemed to be the holy grail of both manufacturers and how stunned everybody was that the companies involved could produce such monstrous boards carrying so many transistors and not be responsible for the melting of the polar ice caps.

Well this time ATI claims that its new range of boards will carry in excess of 300 million transistors meaning that, at least in theory, it will be able to feature 32 pipelines. The current line of thinking at ATI is to have all boards with 32 pipelines but to restrict the first few versions to 24 functioning ones and to gradually introduce the full 32 enabled versions when market conditions and competitor products demand them.

ATI is rather keen to begin making its presence felt on the Top 20 3DMark hall of fame, as the recent failed attempt in Texas clearly demonstrated. The R520 could be the card to bring that success to ATI since it should be capable of performing at least twice as fast as the X850 meaning it should outperform even current SLI setups.

If ATI also manages to introduce its dual-GPU configuration this summer as expected, the resulting performance should run away with the 3DMark crown.

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